WASHINGTON — A wire service reports that Senate Democrats on Tuesday urged President Bush to include $205 million for Amtrak in a new spending bill as the administration met with labor unions to discuss ways to keep the passenger rail system running.
“If we are going to help Amtrak, they must have resources and they must have them as quickly as possible,” said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta was meeting with representatives of transportation unions to discuss the administration’s efforts to overhaul Amtrak. Mineta last week proposed ending federal operating subsidies, allowing competition for passenger rail, making states more responsible for paying for train service, and replacing Amtrak as owner of the Boston-to-Washington Northeast Corridor.
Sen. Patty Murray ( news, bio, voting record), D-Wash., chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee, agreed on the need for changes but rejected the Bush administration’s plan.
“Their reform package is a reform package for failure,” Murray said.
Murray and 16 other Senate Democrats — more than one-third of the caucus — sent a letter to Bush asking that he include $205 million for Amtrak in the supplemental spending bill.
On the Republican side, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison ( news, bio, voting record) of Texas said the federal government has an obligation to maintain a national railroad system. “We’re all going to be in this together,” she said.
But Hutchison, a supporter of Amtrak, also agreed that railroad operations need an overhaul. She said Amtrak’s labor costs were “out of line with other workers in our country” and urged rail unions to be open to changes.
A day earlier, Mineta expressed confidence that Amtrak would not shut down for lack of operating funds.
“I am confident that we will be able to avoid a shutdown of services,” Mineta said Monday, breaking away from an emergency meeting of Amtrak’s board of directors.
Amtrak President David Gunn and board Chairman John Robert Smith said Mineta’s pledge would delay Wednesday’s threatened shutdown, the first in the railroad’s 31-year history, but would not prevent it.
“There has been no reconciliation of the simple fact that Amtrak is running out of cash and (there is) no agreement on how to provide a loan guarantee or appropriation that will continue train service to the end of the fiscal year,” the Amtrak officials said.
The Amtrak board met for several hours, but recessed without any final decisions. Transportation Department spokesman Chet Lunner said the board would meet again later in the week.
Mineta has called for a combination of spending cuts and federal aid to close an immediate $200 million Amtrak budget deficit. Gunn said last week he would begin shutting down the railroad without financial help.
In addition, Amtrak is seeking a loan guarantee from the Federal Railroad Administration. The railroad is having trouble borrowing from the private sector because lenders are unsure how long it will remain in business.
Transportation Department Inspector General Kenneth Mead reported in January that Amtrak lost $1.1 billion in 2001, the most in its history, and had made no progress toward meeting Congress’ 1997 order to wean itself from annual government operating subsidies by this December.
Mineta said the administration and Amtrak would work with Congress to make sure passenger rail service continued. He said the administration should not bear the responsibility alone for Amtrak’s problems.
“This must be a team effort,” he said. “The burden is not on the administration to save the rail system from bankruptcy, nor should it be.”
Lawmakers, however, said the administration must support additional funding for Amtrak.
“The bottom line is for every other method of transportation the federal government steps up to the plate,” said Sen. Charles Schumer ( news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y. “We have to have a long term plan for Amtrak that’s consistent with the way we fund road and air transportation, which means the federal government pays for the infrastructure.”
Amtrak trains carry about 60,000 riders a day. About 35,000 of those ride in the Northeast Corridor.
A shutdown of Amtrak also could affect commuter railroads serving hundreds of thousands of people. Amtrak owns tracks and tunnels used by some commuter rail lines, and operates other systems for state or regional authorities.